Football betting tips: Champions League
1pt Joshua Kimmich 1+ assists at 7/2 (Betfair, Paddy Power)
BuildABet @ 14/1
- Joshua Kimmich 1+ assists
- Bayern Munich 10+ fouls committed
- Celtic 5+ corners
While opinion remains divided about the Champions League's new format - although the pure entertainment of a chaotic final league stage night may push people towards favouring it - there are no doubts that it has benefitted clubs such as Celtic in their quest of reaching the knockout stages.
The main issue for them is that it didn't play out as expected in terms of the top eight. Aston Villa and Lille disrupting the party, combined with the underperforming nature of the established elite, left them with either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
It's the 'rock and a hard place' expression. Would you rather face the historic best from Germany or Spain? Neither, if you wouldn't mind. Are someone like Brest or Monaco on offer please?
It's far from a genius take to suggest that Celtic need a positive result here if they are to stand any chance of progression. I've essentially wasted your time by telling you this, you know that; wasting a few seconds more by adding that on.
The hosts have, at least, beaten Leipzig this season and while they may not be on the same level as Bayern, some confidence can be drawn by winning against one of the better outfits that Germany has to offer.
Does that mean I'll be siding with the home side then? No, obviously not. Little reward can be gained from the match markets.
What are the best bets?
Despite this being a game where one side is so heavily favoured, it still does present a few betting opportunities across the wider offering.
You'd expect Bayern to see the better of the opportunities. Again, genius take, 4/11 to win etc etc.
But with the prolific Harry Kane a short 4/6 to score with some going as small as 8/15, we're forced into looking elsewhere for a bit of value.
That lands us on the 7/2 for JOSHUA KIMMICH 1+ ASSISTS which is certainly eye-catching.
The midfielder has scored once in 29 Bundesliga and Champions League outings but he does have a huge nine assists on his tally. It's not a surprise when you consider the sheer volume of chances he creates.
Helped by the fact he does take set-pieces, Kimmich has created at least three chances for others in five of his last six Bundesliga outings - three of the last four have seen five.
In the Champions League, he's seen 3+ chances coming in each of the last three - an assist posted in the 3-1 win over Slovan Bratislava to round off their league stage campaign.
Only Florian Wirtz and Raphinha (both 25) have created more opportunities than Kimmich (22) across the Champions League so far.
The extent of the expected Bayern dominance of the contest is outlined in the fact that most bookmakers offer even money on them scoring 3+ goals.
Based on his campaign and role within this side, there's a good chance that Kimmich will be one of those heavily involved in the attacking output.
Team news
A big positive for Celtic is Daizen Maeda's suspension being reduced from two games to one following his sending off against Young Boys in the penultimate round of the league stage. That means he is now available to feature here.
Brendan Rodgers has a near full squad to choice from with James Forrest the only absentee - he's set to be out for both legs of the tie.
January additions Jota and Jeffrey Schlupp are available for selection following their arrivals in January. The former is set to start as a part of the front three.
For Bayern, Vincent Kompany will assess Alphonso Davies and João Palhinha before seeing if they are fit enough to feature in Glasgow.
If Davies is unavailable, the versatile Raphaël Guerreiro is likely to continue at left-back.
Predicted line-ups
Celtic XI: Schmeichel; Johnston, Carter-Vickers, Trusty, Taylor; Engels, McGregor, Hatate; Kühn, Maeda, Jota.
Bayern XI: Neuer; Laimer, Upamencano, Kim, Guerreiro; Kimmich, Pavlović; Olise, Musiala, Sané; Kane.
Match facts
- Celtic have faced Bayern Munich on four previous occasions in European competition, going winless across all four in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League (D1 L3).
- Bayern Munich are unbeaten in their last 13 matches against Scottish sides in major European competition (W9 D4), with their last such defeat coming against Hearts in the UEFA Cup in February 1989 (0-1).
- Celtic have won just one of their 12 UEFA Champions League/ European Cup clashes with German opposition (D3 L8), although that victory did come in the most recent one, against RB Leipzig in November in the group stages of the Champions League.
- Celtic have won just one of their last 21 games in European competition against teams who have won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, beating Feyenoord 2-1 in December 2023 (D4 L16).
- Bayern Munich have lost three of their four away matches (W1) in the UEFA Champions League this season. Should Celtic earn a victory here, it would be the first time the German side have lost four away games in a single campaign in major European competition.
- Bayern Munich made the most high turnovers (120) of any team during the league phase of this season’s UEFA Champions League, while they turned 21 of those into shots (joint-most). Meanwhile, only five teams have suffered more high turnovers against them than Celtic (79) in the competition this term.
- Celtic winger Nicolas Kühn has created 10 chances following a carry (travelling 5+ metres with the ball) in the UEFA Champions League this season; the most of any player during the league phase.
- Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich has been involved in more shot-ending sequences of play (from open play) than any other player in the UEFA Champions League this term (72). Indeed, he’s also the top-ranked player in 2024-25 for both passes completed (689) and line-breaking passes (136).
- Only five midfielders have played every minute for their teams in the UEFA Champions League this season (720), two of which play for clubs involved in this game: Callum McGregor for Celtic and Joshua Kimmich for Bayern Munich.
- Bayern Munich’s Kim Min-Jae has completed 91.4% of his passes made under high-intensity pressure in the UEFA Champions League this season (95/104); the highest success rate of any defender (min. 100 attempts).
Odds correct at 1140 GMT (11/02/25)
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